# DPP #142 "Costco"

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-08-27  
**Duration:** 38m 50s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/donspinballpodcast/episodes/DPP-142-Costco-e2nlhth

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## Analysis

Don discusses Stern's Costco partnership bringing Jurassic Park Home Edition to warehouse stores at $4,999, positioning it as an entry point for casual consumers rather than serious enthusiasts. He analyzes the market positioning, compares used Pro machine alternatives at similar prices, discusses Insider Connected data collection strategy, and covers miscellaneous pinball news including Pinball Brothers' ABBA machine, rental programs, and tournament experiences.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Jurassic Park Home Edition is priced at $4,999 at Costco, same as commercial Stern Pro models with better specs — _Don directly states pricing and comparison: '$5,000' for home edition vs Pro machines at similar prices with 'full-size LCD screen'_
- [HIGH] Stern is collecting player data through Insider Connected to track location, timing, and player behavior for operational insights — _Don explains data collection mechanism: 'Every time you log in...all of this data is going back to Stern HQ' for trends analysis and event scheduling_
- [MEDIUM] Used Mandalorian Pro available for $4,600, Star Wars Pro for $5,000, Avengers Infinity Quest Pro for $4,900 — _Don cites Pinside market listings as reference points for alternative purchases at similar price points_
- [MEDIUM] Jurassic Park Home Edition will feature all-wood playfield instead of MDF/particle board — _Don mentions this as improvement: 'this game is supposed to be 49.99 at the costco...all-wood play field'_
- [HIGH] Stern is testing a monthly rental program for office/break room machines at $400/month — _Don references Kerry Hardy's video: 'for $400 a month, Stern will deliver a game to your break room'_
- [HIGH] Costco pricing is $4,999 for members, with $5,999 MSRP online to create price perception advantage — _Don states: '$49.99 at the costco for the members and it'll be shown online on stern's side at 59.99'_

### Notable Quotes

> "This game's not for me. And probably if you're listening to a pinball podcast, it's not for you either. Because you're brilliant. You're smarter than this."
> — **Don**, Early segment
> _Establishes that home editions target casual consumers, not enthusiasts; sets tone for market analysis_

> "This is for the person that I am calling the hero of the holidays...the patriarch of the family...who's going to be like, family, I know you guys have been seeing this game there...and then what shows up under the tree...this machine that you saw at Costco."
> — **Don**, Mid-episode
> _Core insight into target market: gift-givers buying impulse purchases for family members_

> "You either have to get the Infinity Gauntlet or the Infinity Wallet out and keep purchasing, or you get yourself some new customers."
> — **Don**, Early analysis
> _Articulates Stern's strategic rationale: existing customer base is saturated, need to reach new markets_

> "Data...is what Stern is getting. Every time you log in...all of this data is going back to Stern HQ and that is so valuable to them."
> — **Don**, Insider Connected segment
> _Reveals data collection strategy behind Insider Connected in home editions_

> "I think there's only two people in the known universe or at least in this quadrant that fully understand it...Avengers Infinity Quest."
> — **Don**, Market comparison segment
> _Humorous but serious commentary on Avengers Infinity Quest's complex code_

> "I really want to play ABBA, man. I really want to play ABBA. So weird, man. This is a weird game."
> — **Don**, Pinball Brothers ABBA discussion
> _Expresses intrigue with unconventional theme choices despite skepticism_

> "My takeaways from tournaments are that they're not really my thing...I like playing pinball. I don't so much like standing around waiting to play pinball."
> — **Don**, Tournament segment
> _Personal preference revelation about tournament format stress_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Costco | company | Retail partner for Stern Home Edition distribution; placing Jurassic Park Home Edition in warehouse stores at $4,999 price point; strategic partnership to reach casual consumers |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer partnering with Costco; implementing Insider Connected on home editions; testing $400/month office rental program; producing home edition cornerstones |
| Jurassic Park Home Edition | game | Costco cornerstone game at $4,999; features all-wood playfield; includes Insider Connected; positioned for casual/gift market; being distributed to Costco warehouses this holiday season |
| Don | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast; collector with 16 pinball machines; attended tournament at Jay's Silver Ballroom in Iowa; market analyst providing comparisons and commentary |
| Jack Danger | person | Designer of X-Men pinball trilogy; mentioned in context of upcoming X-Men release expectations |
| Pinball Brothers | company | Manufacturer producing ABBA pinball machine; features helicopter mechanism; offers limited and regular art editions with $1,000 price difference |
| ABBA Pinball Machine | game | Produced by Pinball Brothers; Swedish band theme; unusual/weird aesthetic; helicopter mechanism feature; streaming availability shows semi-finished state |
| Jay's Silver Ballroom | event_venue | Private home location in Dubuque, Iowa with 60 pinball machines; hosts publicly sanctioned Stern tournaments; operating as best midwest location |
| Emily and Jay | person | Tournament hosts; upcoming marriage/nuptials mentioned; Jay operates 60 machines at home for tournament play |
| Kerry Hardy | person | YouTuber who created video about Stern's $400/month office rental program |
| Insider Connected | product | Stern's data collection and engagement platform; being added to home editions; tracks player logins, scores, locations; enables time-limited event scheduling for operators |
| Mandalorian Pro | game | Used market listing at $4,600-$4,800; comparison point for home edition value analysis |
| Star Wars Pro | game | Used market listing at $5,000; comparison point with Jurassic Park Home Edition pricing |
| Avengers Infinity Quest Pro | game | Designed by Keith Elwyn; complex code; available used at $4,900-$5,000; comparison value option |
| Stranger Things Pro | game | Tournament game Don played; owned by Don at home; used in tournament at Jay's Silver Ballroom |
| Richard Rauf | person | Podcast host expected to cover Costco partnership in detail; mentioned as having 'beautiful manicured toes' |
| Pinball Expo | event | October 17-19 event; includes media mixer day with pinball personalities; Don plans to attend; ABBA machine may be playable there |
| Keith Elwyn | person | Designer of Avengers Infinity Quest; mentioned for complex code design |
| Loose Flip | person | German streamer who broadcast Pinball Brothers ABBA machine gameplay; described as cool/chill personality with mustache and trucker hat |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Stern Costco Home Edition Partnership, Market positioning of home editions vs Pro machines, Insider Connected data collection strategy
- **Secondary:** Pinball Brothers ABBA Machine, Stern office/break room rental program, Tournament experiences and format preferences, Used market pricing analysis
- **Mentioned:** X-Men pinball expectations

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.55) — Don is supportive of Stern's Costco strategy as good for industry recruitment but skeptical of home edition value proposition for informed buyers. Enthusiastic about weird games like ABBA. Cynical about Stern copying his personal rental lifestyle. Cautiously positive about tournament format but honest about personal stress from waiting between games. Critical of home edition price-to-specs ratio versus used Pro alternatives.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Stern Costco partnership represents major distribution expansion strategy targeting casual/gift market rather than enthusiasts; positioned as customer acquisition channel via FOMO and holiday impulse purchasing (confidence: high) — Don analyzes 'hero of the holidays' target market - family gift-giver seeing machine at warehouse and buying as novelty purchase; Costco price creates perception advantage; plan to clearance price down to $3,800 later in season
- **[sentiment_shift]** Informational asymmetry in pinball market: podcast/enthusiast audiences can make better purchasing decisions than casual consumers due to market knowledge, second-hand pricing intel, and understanding of Pro vs home feature differences (confidence: high) — Don repeatedly states home edition not for 'you' (podcast listeners) but for uninformed casual buyers; emphasizes insider advantage in identifying better used machine deals at comparable pricing
- **[competitive_signal]** Jurassic Park Home Edition at $4,999 creates ambiguity in market positioning - priced above casual appeal threshold but below full Pro capability, competing with used Pro market rather than pure casual/virtual segment (confidence: high) — Don notes this prices it same as commercial Pro but 'not quite the full size...kills the aesthetic for me.' Positioned between AtGames virtual and commercial Pro but lacking clear value over used alternatives
- **[market_signal]** Pinball Brothers ABBA machine represents unconventional theme selection (Swedish band, aviation/travel theme) that defies traditional game design conventions; community skepticism about gameplay vs aesthetics (confidence: high) — Don describes ABBA game as 'so weird,' 'half-baked,' notes layout is 'a little empty' but wants to play anyway; community feedback dismissing it as incomplete; $1,000 art edition premium unusual
- **[personnel_signal]** Don claims Stern is emulating his personal lifestyle of traveling with pinball machines for office/road deployment via new $400/month rental program (confidence: medium) — Don states: 'why you gotta be coming after me i've been doing this for like a year i travel on the road i do hospital work...i've been bringing a pinball machine with me...now Stern's capitalizing on my lifestyle'
- **[market_signal]** Home edition pricing at $4,999-$5,999 directly undercuts Pro market value; used Pro alternatives available at comparable prices with superior specs, creating buyer confusion and potential channel conflict (confidence: high) — Don's price comparison: Mandalorian Pro $4,600, Star Wars Pro $5,000, Avengers Infinity Quest Pro $4,900 all available used at or below home edition price with full commercial specs
- **[announcement]** X-Men cornerstone game from Stern expected to drop soon; Don has recorded extended Patreon analysis on whether to purchase if released (confidence: high) — Don states 'Jack Danger's trilogy of machines will be complete when we get to X-Men'; mentions detailed Patreon discussion about purchase decision criteria
- **[product_strategy]** Jurassic Park Home Edition features all-wood playfield (vs MDF in previous models) and Insider Connected as differentiators from prior home edition iterations (confidence: medium) — Don highlights wood playfield as improvement from particle board; Insider Connected being added to home editions as engagement feature
- **[rumor_hype]** Batman 66 and Aerosmith re-runs being considered by Stern as repeat Spike 2 production; demand signal from Stranger Things effect (low original production = high secondary prices) (confidence: medium) — Don cites 'tangible rumor' about Aerosmith remake; references hearing on 'Pinball Show' about Stern 'revisiting every Spike 2' to 'keep the churn rolling' with Batman 66 and other reprints
- **[business_signal]** Insider Connected in home editions is data collection trojan horse - Stern is building player database to track usage patterns, timing, location data, and player behavior for operator revenue optimization (confidence: high) — Don explicitly explains: 'every player so now they put this game in a costco...now they can track sales distribution...are you using that account at other arcades...that is value to them'

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## Transcript

 get number 142 locked and loaded in the barrel because i'm about to blast you in the face with all of my hot takes and reviews grab that chicken bake lather up that hot dog in mustard and or ketchup depending on your proximity to chicago we're going to costco for pinball shopping y'all We'll be right back. Would you look at what time it is? I think it's time for a cornerstone to drop. At least it seems that way. Based on the way that everybody's talking between here and France, we're supposed to be seeing this game drop on us. Jack Danger's trilogy of machines will be complete when we get to X-Men, whether it's 97, comic books, maybe the surprises with some movie tie-ins, or maybe it's just a bunch of action figures in a box. I would play it. I would play it, but would I buy it? would i buy it i have a lot of my uh thoughts and things about is this a game that i would buy if it comes out what's it gonna take for that to be in there and i just dropped that on the patreon for everybody to listen to me talk about and analyze in in excruciating detail what it's gonna take to move me on to that but forget that we're going to costco man we're out of diapers we're out of kitchen towels uh we're out of uh those little chocolate covered dumpling things that they sell oh i love me some costco it's like a trade show man you walk around right there's sips and nibbles everywhere get yourself a dollar 50 hot dog they aren't raising that price brother and then look at all the new products that are around you got your eye on that leather sofa it's got power reclining but it's still a thousand dollars well 99.97 so let's watch it for a little bit maybe see if it goes on clearance maybe we'll grab that floor model at the close out of the season. Oh, we're in the holiday season at Costco. Is there a better place or better time? You got giant skeleton decorations. I was there the other day. It's in full effect with the fall. And then right around the corner in the back of the big box store, they got all the holiday stuff ready to descend upon us. And then behind that are the mattresses and the couches that will be coming out in January. Dude, I love this time of year. The next six months, I got them totally scheduled. The other thing that we can do at Costco, courtesy of Stern Pinball and their shrewd negotiating business partner, Costco, will be able to play some pinball in the warehouse. Can I get a, oh yeah. Oh, actually, I heard that coming through the radio there. That's cool. So, Jurassic Park Home Edition, it's alive, man. Stern took a step away from the Home Edition production about a year or so ago. They just kind of like slowly kind of announced that they were ending the production run of that with no further future runs planned, which kind of seemed to signal the death of this. And a great idea, right? A great idea. Let's build something that's kind of like halfway between, well, halfway, three-quarters of the way between an AtGames home virtual pinball machine or one of them Zazzle whatever's and like a full commercial pro, right? Let's come out with a game that's like $3,200, has mechanisms in it, built out a particle board ready for you, and that little four-inch screen, which is just embarrassingly small in 2024. for. So these things released, and then steadily the price kept creeping up until it was dang near the price of a Stern Pro. And in fact, even today, that price, that MSRP, you can score yourself a commercial Stern Pro Spike 2 system with a full-size LCD screen for like the same price, man. So what's going on? So they want to reach out again. I get this. They need to support this industry, keep the production lines moving. You either need to have your customers continue to buy to infinity, which is not sustainable. I'm proof of that. I've got 16 damn games in my downstairs now. There's no room for anything else, man. I'm overburdened. Everything must go. I feel like I'm selling Wacky Waving Inflatable Alarm Filling Tube Men or something down here. Al Harriton, do do it overstock. I can't wait to get these things out to you. So you either have to get the Infinity Gauntlet or the Infinity Wallet out and keep purchasing, or you get yourself some new customers. And I think that's where they're reaching out to. And I think it's a great idea. Richard Rauf's going to do a whole podcast about this. I'm going to step on those beautiful manicured toes of his. You know, we'll go check that out. But yeah, so the home edition's not quite the full size of the commercial machine, which kills the aesthetic for me, man. I mean, I have to have everything match. You know, but putting this in a warehouse store at the $49.99 price point, It makes sense to me when I think about it. So who's this game for? Who's this game for? Let me tell you, this game's not for me. And probably if you're listening to a pinball podcast, it's not for you either. Because you're brilliant. You're smarter than this. You're not going to fall for no slick marketing. And, you know, sure, they get you in the door with a $1.50 hot dog and the $3.99 chicken bake. And now they want you to pay $5,000 for the home edition that was selling for below $4,000 six months ago. You're overburdened with these damn things. Not that it's a bad game. It's fun. I like the Star Wars one, too. Maybe that's to come. But who is this for? This is for the person that I am calling the hero of the holidays. So this is the patriarch of the family, probably the patriarch, you know, whoever that is. I don't want to sign any gender roles or anything. But, right, you know, your family's been going to Costco. You've been seeing all the things. There's going to be this big, flashy, new, big-ticket purchase, the coolest thing in the whole warehouse, lines a mile long to play this thing. We had that virtual machine last year, but it was $400 or $600, and it wasn't really that impressive. This thing is a real live breathing pinball machine. It even has cosmetic coin door, man. There's actually like coin slots on this. That probably just returns your coin, or maybe it just functions as a bank or something. But they're going to have this thing. So who's the hero? The hero is the guy who's going to be like, family, I know you guys have been seeing this game there. And I was like, we can't afford that. That's too much. We're not going to get that. And then what shows up under the tree or the menorah or the Kwanzaa Blanket on Christmas or whatever morning, Chris Monica morning, but this machine that you saw at Costco. Oh, dad or grad or Gramps or whoever it is, stepdad, cousin Terry who's been sleeping on the couch, thank you for bringing this in to us. Now you got the machine in the house. Now everybody can play it. They can ooh and ah. I got to get my friends from work over here to check this out. We got a pinball machine. The Costco one is in our house. That's who it's for. This is for me four years ago. Before I purchased my first pinball machine, Stern Dark Knight, got it used, had it, fantastic. Kicked open the door to this whole industry for me. But before I had bought that, if I would have seen this at Costco, I would have found a way to go ahead and get it. Period. Done. Get it in my truck. Get it home. Set it up. I would buy it. this would have been me without question. Probably what I would have done is watch them. And the second it went down a little bit of clearance price, boom, I would have sniped on it and I want to grab that thing. So I think this will move some units. And fortunately for those of us that are hep to this jive and have seen this play out before, as we get into the later into the season, and we need to flip these things over, particularly when it's time to put all the mattresses on the floor, that's when you might see this thing wheeled over to the back corner, with a price reduction on it. Probably $600 to start with, $700 could go down to like $3,800. Man, get this thing out of our warehouse. And then for somebody, it's not a terrible price for a home edition, so there you go. They're also saying this is going to have an all-wood play field. This was a stumbling block for me when I saw the home versions. I saw that the cabinet was made out of MDF. It's that pasteurized cheese of wood product, right? It's like a pressed particle board, which, you know, I know the integrity. is there you know you can find but it's made out of cardboard man i don't want that i want the wood buddy i need to have the cabinetry um so this game is supposed to be 49.99 at the costco for the members and it'll be shown online on stern's side at 59.99 so that if you happen to go comparison shopping online you'd be like oh costco's got it for a thousand bucks less let's go ahead and get it but let's say you're a little more shrewd than that i mean you are listening to me of course um you love deals as much as i do so let's say you got that 49.99 kicking around what else could you get with your pinball money and how much space for hot dogs would you have left over well i've run the numbers for you based just on pin side i picked out a couple of spike two machines pro editions what can we get for 49.99 how about this how about this forty six hundred right now, and it's not even the only one, you can get yourself a Mandalorian pro. Now, I know you just say, Don, Mandalorian sucks. All it has is that one shot up the middle, Grogu doesn't move, and the helmet is stupid. I don't get it. Okay, listen. Listen. It's got assets, buddy. It's got the villains in it. It's got the call-outs from the dude from Predator. It Mandalorian It Star Wars Like still right Also what you are getting is a fully complemented Spike 2 cabinet with probably a shaker motor that somebody put in there But like it's all made out of real components, right? A real commercial machine you could take out to a pizza parlor and start making money on if you so choose. $4,600. I'm telling you, man, that's going to have so much more gameplay than, I love JD and what he did with that design, but this is going to have more gameplay function in it with assets a bigger screen the music there's ice spiders in it come on man there's an action button home edition has an action button too but i mean you know i see what i mean full components cheaper much deeper gameplay insider connected is now in the home editions how crazy is that i do love that i love that that's how they're getting that trojan horse into the house i need to talk about insider connected i'm going pause this for a second and make myself a note, because we're going to talk about a little Insider Connected tidbits here in a bit. Oh, I can't wait to get to that. Alright, so Mandalorian Pro. Yeah, Don, okay, yeah. It's not great. Isn't that the game that you lost the tournament on? Yes, yes. But it's got way more gameplay and coming in a little bit cheaper. A little bit cheaper. $4,600? There's another one for $4,800 right now for that Pro. Throw some metal wire forms in there and upgrade it. You really got something. Stick it with Star Wars. Stick with Star Wars. Star Wars Pro $5,000 the exact same price tell me I know it's maligned you tell me the premiums better who knows that better than me man I got a premium sitting behind me but I'm telling you the gameplay the assets the music the sound the speakers everything is going to be more robust in that game which you could also march right on out and make some money at the pizza parlor with $5,000. So if you're in the know, probably you wouldn't go buy this home edition because of this. I love Jurassic Park, Don. And this is a low entry point into Jurassic Park. Okay, so what about Jurassic Park Pro? This is where things change up a bit because this is a game that is very much in demand. There's only five for sale right now. Five Jurassic Park Pros on Pinside. And they're like, the cheapest one is $5,700 or best offer. So you're paying a little bit more. but you're getting so much more so much more but that's because we studied we know the market we listen to the podcast we wear the t-shirts we go to the expos we're plugged in your fingers on the pulse man don't stick it in too deep i don't want you to tear something but like you got inside information think about you before you became you or me before i was me four years ago i would have been so happy to go and get this game um but i don't want to dissuade stern from any sales or anything but these are the deals that are out there don i want one more okay i got one for you i go how about it how about another elwynn and another elwynn that's not five thousand seven hundred dollars another elwynn that's not five thousand dollars how about a Keith Elwin machine a pro version with loaded with gameplay and code there's so much code that it mind boggles people and i think there's only two people in the known universe or at least in this quadrant that fully understand it i'm talking about avengers infinity quest hell of a game hell of a shooter i love the captain marvel wire form ramp on the premium don't get me wrong but the pro forty nine hundred dollars right now forty nine hundred is another one for five or best offer so just about the exact same price with enough room left over for about 30 hot dogs at the costco food court and you get Avengers Infinity Quest Pro? Brother, I would totally do that. Hell of a game. Hell of a game. Okay, so that was the cursory view of the market. That's where we're at. Is this going to be successful for Stern? Yes, Costco's made the purchase. This was, like, transactional. We're good. Hopefully these are being boxed up and shipped out right now and are just waiting to be put on the show floor. I can't wait. This whole holiday season, man. I want to be in Costco all the damn time, and now I'll get to play pinball while I'm there, but like real pinball, not that virtual Star Wars one from last year that was so brutal. It was so not fun. It made me hate pinball, man. I'm so glad they have this. So this is going to be good for people that are, you know, pin curious and don't really know any better and are going to get an awesomely designed game for the home. I don't think the product's bad. I think if you know, there's better ways to spend your money, but that's anything. That's anything. So I think this will grow also the awareness of pinball because a lot of people are going to be shopping at Costco this holiday season. They're going to see this thing. Hey, pinball machines are being made again. Jurassic Park, I love that. Oh, hey, I think this other place has pinball. Let's go do that. That one at Costco was so fun. Let's go out to this place. Instead of axe throwing, we'll go over to this brewery place. We'll play some pinball. So I think that's how it's going to start, and I think it's going to recruit some more people, and I'm supportive of that. I think that's a good thing. I can't wait. I get to play pinball at Costco now. Let's go there. Sips and nibbles and pinball. Come on, man. What's better than that? love it love it I'll tell you what's better than that the fact that my money is safe from buying a Batman 66 rerun of that I just started listening to the pinball show I don't want to give away all their good drippy sausage and I do have a little bit of a contention for them but the fact that they mentioned like so they're just going to revisit every Spike 2 now and like see if they can stick out 400 games and just get them sold just to keep the churn rolling hey, maybe you were waiting for a Batman 66. Maybe you were looking at the market and you're like, this is still kind of commanding kind of a higher price. I don't know why you would be even looking at this game, but maybe you do you. You do you. You like the theme, whatever. I got a Munsters. I take the Arrows too. If they re-ran it, yeah, hey, if there's a market out there, if the distributors will buy that, for sure, let's do it. We heard this tangible rumor that Aerosmith was going to get done. I think this is in that same vein. So yeah, plausible, plausible. I will sit on my side of the fence and watch people purchase Batman 66, watch people purchase Aerosmith, and if they want it, hey, that's great. People wanted Black Knight Sword of Rage remade. They did that. That's fantastic. I called at the same time I was talking about Black Knight Sword of Rage. I said Munsters should get redone. Again, a game that's not, you know, critically acclaimed at all, but the theme is awesome. The art is incredible. I love my Munsters. But I say that because the used prices are high. This is a Stranger Things effect. it was made at a time when it didn't sell very well production ended and then because of the just not availability of them prices inflated so I think there's a demand there I still think that would work even though I have my premium now I don't want it rerun again but hey you know who am I to deny the mirth of another so go ahead and go get that little things I'm hearing everywhere what the hell else did I write down here oh dude oh I watched Kerry Hardy's video he just put out talking about Stern's doing a business rental system or something. Do you see this on YouTube? I guess the deal is like for $400 a month, Stern will deliver a game to your break room, and you guys could just have that for a month. And they're marketing it, talking about team building and stuff and increased productivity because you have a pinball machine. I think a pinball machine in the office is a fantastic idea, so anything I can do to support that is great. But Stern, why you got to be biting my style so much, man? why you gotta be coming after me i've been doing this for like a year i travel on the road i do hospital work i'm in health care i do computer stuff um you know but i've been bringing a pinball machine with me and into the office uh so that while i'm out of town i'm away from my games i got a road game right people take a nintendo switch with them they take a playstation with them or play remotely i bring my arcade with me so i did that with tales in the crypt big Lebowski, man, Munsters. I've done it, man. So for me, it's a lifestyle. It's not like a revolutionary idea. But now Stern's capitalizing on my lifestyle, man. I don't know how to feel about that. Well, if it means that people in office drudgery can go fling some silver balls around, I think that's a great idea. I always fantasize, like, if I had, like, an office or a clinic, right, where people were just hanging out in the waiting room, instead of a stack of old travel magazines, I'd throw a pinball machine out there. Let people play some pinball. I think let's get them into the doctor's offices, right? Waiting on the dentist. I would love to go over and play a game of hell even Mandalorian, right? I'd even play Batman 66 if I was in the dental office. Come on. Come on. I think that would work. I think that would work. So we'll see what happens with that. Again, you tell they're brainstorming. Their wheels are turning. This is a stern, heavy episode we're doing here. But there's a lot of news, and they seem to be next up on the release, so I guess we've got to talk about them. Yeah, so what else do I want to talk about? Let's do the Insider Connected thing, Insider Connected. So look how cool Stern is, man. They're including Insider Connected on the home versions of machines. That's cool, right? JP Home Edition will have Insider Connected. Presumably, they'll make a kit where you can put this into maybe Star Wars too. So how benevolent of our overlords to give us this functionality. Well, really what Insider Connected is, it increases engagement and things, but it's the D, man. Data. That is what Stern is getting. Now, think about it. Every time you log in, which you do because you want the bleep loops. You want to keep track of where you played, what you played, what your score was. I love it. I love that part of it. And it free right But all of this data is going back to Stern HQ and that is so valuable to them to know who playing when trends which days of the week, which hours of the day of the week, games are getting played, games aren't getting played. What can we do to get people to go out in those certain times of the day that are lighter to try to get more operating revenue to the operators? Well, look at this. Maybe we can come up with, I don't know, some kind of contract system system where we can release like a time limited event or or a volume limited achievement that you can receive and maybe we release it on tuesday afternoons when nobody's really at the arcade right so that's what they're doing um so this data is all feeding back to them invaluable data from like basically every player so now they put this game in a costco where it's just general public are going to get out there right the the the pin curious right or the the the pre-pin folks they're going to get these things into their homes and now they can track sales distribution where'd you buy your game from and then you know now that you bought this game you registered for an account are you using that account at other arcades you know by doing this little test with Costco got this machine got it into your home did we now translate that into you going out of location and using that data using that login that's what they're going to track and that is like more than anything except maybe gold or cash that is value to them and so that's why they're doing it but hey you know we can celebrate you know receiving this interactivity um you know i want every game to be insider connected man even even non-stern ones now i love logging in i love keeping track and hopefully the functionality of the app gets a little more user-friendly you know like actually saves my passwords or i could just use like face login or something i think we'll get there um oh oh what if we did this what if they had facial recognition that qr reader so you just look down on it it recognizes you and logs in oh snap we are through the looking glass there that's some running man bull crap that's some like do androids dream of electric sheep kind of stuff man can you imagine that's probably gonna happen but hopefully that qr reader is pointed up at the face and not in the coin door at crotch level because man you don't want to be called out like that walking through the arcade all right enough of that big data i think that's what they're getting i think that's why it's going in here. I think we're going to see more of it. And as long as they bring the fun and the action, the interactivity, and it doesn't feel like a chore, but feels like something fun, I think that's okay. I think that's okay. Let's get to the topic of the episode, and that's Abba's Pinball Machine from Pinball... I was going to say Pinball Adventures. Pinball Brothers. Oh, man. So, there's a live stream out there. I watched part of it. It's in German. The dude looks totally rad, man. I want to go hang out with that guy that was doing the live stream. Loose Flip, I think, is this channel never heard of it um but i don't really watch a ton of streamers but like i want to go meet this guy he looks so totally rad it's like a dude speaking german but like with a cool mustache and a trucker hat he reminds me of at least like six guys i've known like during my life that were all like cool and chill to hang out with and it's like that's the german version right a true doppelganger right i want to go hang out with this guy so i don't know check that out i mentioned this online i i shared i think uh either the stream or some such and i commented like i really want to play this game um and you know people get back at me they're like well it's barren it looks half-baked yada yada it's like yes of course it does um this is a just a weird theme right just not even that it's abba music which is also weird but like the theme is weird Voyage, what's going on, whether like whales flying on the art there's two trim levels there's like a limited or a regular one and it's like it's a thousand bucks more but the only thing that's different is just the art on the cabinet, it's so weird man, this game is so weird, there's that helicopter mechanism which is kind of neat but like it's an ABBA game which is just bonkers the layout is a little empty but it looks like it was made with components from Queen, like it looks like a Pinball Brothers game, which is like But, like, why ABBA, man? Why ABBA? I don't know. But I want to play this game so damn bad because it's so weird, man. This is a weird game. It's like, I don't know if it's as weird as Barry O's Barbecue Challenge. That's just, like, out of left field. I've talked about Barbecue Challenge. What's the challenge? It's a barbecue challenge. What is it? What's the story? Is it not coded yet? Am I playing as these characters? Am I playing against these characters? I'm not sure what's going on it's just weird and I love it for that reason on that aspect I can really dig it but I'm digging for just how weird and how strange of a decision it is to release this game which it will have its buyers but man it's so capital W and I want to play the damn thing I really was harsh on Queen and that was only because every Queen I played was terrible. Or maybe they weren't set up right or it was just bad. Just not fun. Felt really old even though it was new. But not in a good way. Like in a dated way. Like we should really be beyond this. So I finally did play a home use Queen that was set up right. I could hear the music. I gotta say it played well. I had fun playing it. I actually did okay. I was able to hit shots and things. I was kind of starting to understand the game a little bit more. It's still a weird game. Not personally for me to own, but I will give Queen some credit. It's much better than what I had been led to play. I was playing games with really weak flippers. I don't know if the games weren't set up right, or what was going on with them, or they were just in disrepair, but it just wasn't a good look. I'm glad I got some better time on it. I want to play me some ABBA. Maybe I'll get to do this at Pinball Expo, which is the next expo I'm going to. It's in October. It's coming up. October 17th is the Thursday. I think we'll see the repeat or the return, the triumphant return of the pinball media mixer day. Oh, what kind of drama are we going to get? We've got to top the drama from last year, man. We've got to have maybe not a fist fight, but like a food fight. Can we do a monk food fight? We'll do a dress like Canada day. I don't know what we're going to do. Hopefully I'll get invited to it. That would be amazing. If not, I'll still support it because it was a good time. It was a good time. I really want to play ABBA, man. I really want to play ABBA. So I mentioned this earlier, but I do have some thoughts on this new X-Men game if it does come out. It's on the Patreon. Patreon members have already been listening to it probably by the time you're hearing this. So go check that out again, patreon.com slash Don's Pinball Podcast. Easy to walk in the door, $5. I was just at a tournament, you guys. Let's do the tournament talk segment. I know this is a very tournament-heavy podcast. Let's get into it. I was finally – well, I've been invited to Jay's Silver Ballroom. Yeah, it's in Iowa near this town called Dubuque, I think you'd call it, Dubuque, Iowa. So Emily and Jay, congratulations on the forthcoming nuptials, man. That's awesome. But this guy, Jay, if you're not initiated, dude is like a lot of us in that he has pinball machines at his house. What separates him is he's got like 60 pinball machines at his house, like completely crazy, man, like life goal level. And so he actually runs publicly Sanctioned tournaments by Stern From his home Which is awesome So you can go there and like When you get insider connected achievements It's like a location And the dude is operating like What is the best location in the midwest Right now like out of his home Which is just bonkers So I got to go out there for these Saturday tournaments And I played a pinball tournament And it was a three strikes Which I guess you guys know all about I was kind of new to the concept But struck out on Mandalorian. Damn it. I made it about five or six rounds, though, so not too bad. So here's my takeaways. My round two was on Stranger Things Pro. I got one out of four. I won my group. It was just fantastic, and it really helped that I actually owned the game at home. So I knew some little exploits there, some bonus multiplier things and how to get them, safer shots, not safer shots. So I was having the best blast I've ever had. I'm like, I'm going to be Tournament Don. I'm going to change my name to Termadon, and this is what we're going to do. And then Mandalorian just handed me my ass on three plates, man. Oh, my God. Ended up getting it in two rounds, too. Like, how unfair is that? So my takeaways from tournaments are that they're not really my thing. They're fun. They're fun. And hanging out with everybody is, like, super awesome. And plus there's food, right? The thing that falls apart for me is I like playing pinball. I don't so much like standing around Waiting to play pinball I think I'd do better in one of these tournaments Where it's like they give you a card And you can just go and play games at your leisure And write down your scores and submit them I think that would be more fun It's fun to be in a group of four But man it's so stressful Let me tell you how it went My last round on Mandalorian Pro It's three of us and a lady So four of us all together Cool people, super cool people And I was doing pretty good I was like neck and neck. It was like me and this other dude, he's got like 45 million points, and I've got like 43, and I'm like, all right, dude, I can actually do this. It's ball three. It's go time, man. And then, you know, sure enough, by the time I drain, I'm like 1,000 points beneath his score, and I'm like, dang it. I thought I was going to win another round. But I'm like, all right, I'm two of four. Not too bad The other two people were like you know the scores were like 10 million or something So like I in a good position for a tournament you know but it was so stressful Like I almost needed to like calm down for a while If I had to keep playing, like, I don't know if I could have because it was so intense, like, trying to, like, gently get my shots and, like, play a little conservatively but still try to get the points, try to go for it. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? Because it wasn't just that I could play 10 games and take my best one. Like, it was all in this ball. So, I'm in a good position. And then I forgot her name, but the lady of our group, she blew up all of us and took one. I ended up being the fourth person. Like, oh, gosh, and I'm out. Just X. And it's like, oh, man. I mean, I'm kind of thankful at this point because I really need to calm down because it's just so intense for me. Like, over that machine, like, doing my drop catches and doing my bounce saves and stuff and trying to, like, nudge in just the right way. And I was doing, like, really good. But it was so intense that I don't think I can. I don't think it's healthy for me to stay at that level of intensity. Of course, when I'm at home, casually playing, relaxed, I can put up some pretty good scores. You know, out of ten games, one of them is fantastic. Three are very strong, very decent. And a bunch of the other ones just are terrible, right? You know, it happens. Especially John Wick. So, like, I can perform, but not consistently enough that I can ever expect to, like, make it to the end of a tournament. and it's so intense. Oh, man. It was an experience. So Emily and Jay, thank you so much for the invite. I'm glad I finally got to make it out there. I'm glad I'm driving distance to you guys. Of course, you're welcome up at District Dawn anytime. Maybe I should have a tournament at home, just like Dawn's Laid Back 10-card tournament or whatever they're called. But for you tournament people, I was in one, and I had a lot of fun, and I ate a lot of chips, and I drank some Diet Cokes, and it was good times. But I still think I prefer just going by, hanging out so I can actually play more pinball and less time just kind of standing around like brooding over like, you guys, I'm really better than this. You just got to caught me on a terrible day or something, right? Let me know your thoughts. Don's Pinball Podcast at gmail.com. I was trolling around Facebook recently, as recently as about 10 minutes before I started recording. And I saw a post on one of the Stern enthusiast sites or pinball enthusiast sites. But Ron Cameron, dude. I want to shout this guy out. Out of nowhere, this guy just walks into the Facebook ether and just starts posting about how happy he is that he pre-ordered Ninja Eclipse from Turner Pinball. Now, this is topical for me because I've been talking to Chris a lot. I'm working on another project. I've got a microcontroller I'm programming. Dude helped me out a ton. When we say Chris Turner is the coolest dude in pinball, legit, legit. Nice guy, San Antonio, Texas. I got to go down there, get some awesome Mexican food, and go hang on the river walk, dude. And plus, I want to tour the sprawling facility that you got. So there's a lot of good information that came out of this post. Chris Turner, he's so transparent, man. You start talking about him, he comes up and he's like, here's the truth about what I'm doing. Here's the answers to your question and anything else, I'm happy to answer it. Like, dude's there. Like, he's not ducking and hiding. So we just got I'm going to say wounded By the fall of Haggis But we kind of knew it was coming But it's got everybody gun shy So the topic now was on deposits Put down a deposit before your game is made And right now that seems to be like That's not a safe thing to do People with Haggis lost it Happened with Deep Root I'm sure there's been others as well And So he's like look I put down this deposit for Ninja Eclipse Like, unprompted, this dude just shows up. It's just like a total champion. He's like, I put down my $1,000 deposit for Ninja Eclipse, and here's the five reasons that I put down why I did it. One, I believe in this guy. You know, basically he's transparent. He's talking about his process. I really feel like I got a good vibe that he's going to do it. And then he threw out that, like, you know, without risk, there's no reward kind of take. So definitely a hot take. This is going to be an individual decision to make. And then, of course, people showed up, and they're like, dude, what are you doing giving out? We're not supposed to give deposits for games that aren't made. Only buy it if it's in a box. The game is made to be played before you paid. This is the wait or something. We're all supposed to live by this new ethos. And, yeah, that's totally the safe thing to do. Chris jumps up like another champion, and he's like, look, I want to be the exception to the rule. I'm telling you guys. How much can you trust a pinball person at this point? But he's like, look, the $1,000 deposits, they go in a separate thing. They're not used to fund this. This is not Kickstarter. We got the resources to get this done. Pre-sales have been going good. We got parts to make all 100. So, like, you know, only time will tell that it's real and true. But I think the dude may be legit. He shows up to pinball shows. He answers text messages. I haven't had to hunt this guy down. He's appeared on the show before. I've interviewed the guy. So it was kind of a cool thing. And it was good to see somebody enthusiastic for Ninja Eclipse. It's a fun game. It does some interesting things. you know, Chris is really like, you know, learning this is his company's first game, right? And we've seen first games from companies before. America's Most Haunted from Spooky. Maybe Turner Pinball could be the next Spooky homegrown hero. He's making 100 machines and starting with that and going from there. And I don't think that that is a bad thing. All right. Let's get to this. Okay, listen. All right. Step on the Patreon toes of the pinball show a little bit. So I don't want to give away all of their behind-the-paywall content. I subscribed to the pinball show at the $10 level because I love the show. I need me some den-den. I like Zach's insights for the most part, but I need to call the dude out. And he hit Bucky's pretty hard, right? And there was some glaring omissions, and I knew, like, the Bucky's pitchfork's going to be coming for this guy based on his brisket comments alone. I'm going to limit this to the soda fountain because, sir, Bucky's has like six soda fountains that are back there. You fill them up yourselves. They have a whole line of Bucky sodas, Bucky juice. That was hilarious. But they do have Coke. They do have Pepsi. It's like every third machine is a Coke or a Pepsi, and then the rest of them are like the Bucky's ones. So I don't know. I mean, I'm not sure exactly which Bucky's you've been to, but I've been to like nine of them. And the one thing that I love about the fountain section of Buc-ee's is, well, because it's America, they do have like a 64-ounce foam cup for like $1.79. But they do have Coke products and Pepsi products as well as the beaver juice that's there too. So maybe it was crowded. I get it. The soda fountains, they all look identical. But you do have to look a little closer. They do have them there. don't here don't write buckies off completely based off that one experience maybe you hit a bad buckies maybe this was like one of the first buckies or something um you know because i just drove through amarillo texas and they're building like the world's largest one right there it's like about to open um i will say let's check on buckies here for a second they need to bring back the texas blt sandwich this is my favorite thing there it was a sandwich you went and ordered from the kiosk where you can order like a french fry burrito uh you can order like a chicken sandwich you can order a hot dog and then the other thing they had was a blt sandwich it was made on the same buns that they put the brisket sandwiches on but you could hit like double bacon give me some lettuce add some cheese to it it was like six bucks it was so delicious and they just got rid of it and it's like part of part of my enthusiasm for buckies you guys i was gonna to go find a truck stop pinball machine and re-theme it into Bucky's because of my love for not only the brand but also that BLT sandwich please bring it back Bucky's bring back my BLT or at least at least let me beg for it and then you like you'll sigh and like make me one right because I went to the I went to the counter where they have all the jerky and I'm like can you please make me one of those Texas BLT sandwiches and they're like we just ended those and then they walked away and I'm like god you're leaving me without my Bucky's uh Don tell them where they can email you at email me at don's people podcast at gmail.com go email my buddy jeff at mad pinball dot com and be like yo guy i want something uh order through him i have heard a little thing well it was through this post about turner pinball that if you pre-order uh ninja eclipse and you use code mad pinball your deposit can be refundable oh i would be remiss if i missed this uh chris Turner himself has said this, the deposit, while it's a non-refundable deposit, it is refundable if the game is not delivered within a certain time frame. So basically, if through no fault of your own, your game hasn't been delivered per the agreement, you can then have your funds back, which is reasonable, right? Now, if you change your mind, don't want the game, it's a non-refundable, non-transferable deposit. But if your games, if they're promising you 12 months or nine months or six months and they don't deliver by that date, then you are entitled to compensation. That makes sense to me. I love that. Alright, email me at Don'tSpinBullPodcast at gmail.com Hit me up on the Facebook page. Let me know what you think of these shows. That is what helps me grow and make them more enjoyable and more palatable to you, the listener, the people. Are you excited about X-Men? I know I am, but am I going to buy one? Go check out the thoughts on the Patreon, man. If you're paying five bucks, you should get something for that. Go check it out. More Don's always a good thing. Talk to you soon.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: e3b2eb5d-dbf0-4cd0-9de8-121b3e670e77*